20 Tips for Increasing Your Self-Confidence

by Teresa Meehan PhD

Who can't benefit from an occasional dose of confidence building tips? The following is a quick list of things you can do today to improve how you feel about yourself. For a more step-by-step approach, sign up for our free newsletter and download your free eCourse today!

Here we go:

1. Think about someone who is confident and act, talk and walk like him or her. Model their mannerisms and behavior. It works for them; it will work for you.

2. Smile a lot more. That doesn’t mean putting a silly grin on your face! But smile when you walk down the street, when you meet people and generally be happier even if you’re not feeling that way.

3. Learn from the past; don’t beat yourself up about it. It’s gone; it’s never coming back. Instead learn from it for next time.

4. Buy yourself some new clothes, get your hair done, treat yourself to something new. It will make you feel better and will give your ego a boost.

5. Are you prepared for situations? Are you prepared enough to meet any challenge that may come up? Are you prepared for that meeting, that presentation, that job interview, when you meet someone for the first time? If not, get to it.

6. Play to your strengths. Know what you are good at and expose yourself to these opportunities at every opportunity – because you’re good at it, you’ll enjoy it and have more confidence.

7. Improve your weaknesses. Know and appreciate what these are and put a plan in place to improve them over time.

8. Learn how to say no to people. Don’t be afraid, you’ve got nothing to be afraid of. Just watch the reaction on their face after you’ve said it the first time and there will be no going back.

9. Be positive. Look on the “can do” side of things rather than the “can’t do”. You’ve accomplished lots in your life and you will accomplish lots more in the future.

10. Be in charge of your thoughts at all times. What is a thought? It’s just a question that you’ve asked yourself and the thought is you’re answer. If you’re thinking negative thoughts, you’re probably asking a negative question. Change the questions to be more positive.

11. Whenever you feel a negative thought coming, STOP, THINK, and say, "Is this really important in the grand scheme of things?" A lot of the time it isn’t.

12. Do you let the words of others affect you? Do you mind what they think of you? Remember that no one can make you feel inferior without your consent. It’s not what they say to you that’s the problem. It’s what you say to yourself after they have stopped talking that’s the problem. Change the way you think.

13. List the words that you use on a consistent basis when you feel let down or annoyed. People use different words to mean the same thing and depending upon the intensity of the word – this will have an effect on your confidence. Instead of saying “I’m enraged about this” say, “I’m a little annoyed”. Make a substitute list for the words that you use. Make sure they are lower in intensity and then use them. You’ll be surprised with the results.

14. At the end of each day, list your achievements and successes. You'll be surprised at how much you accomplished.

15. Be appreciative of what you have to be thankful for in your life right now. Who do you love? Who loves you? Who do you help out?

16. Every morning when you’re in the shower, play over in your head the events of the day as though they have already happened and they were a success. Visualize all of the meetings that you had, the people you talked to, the outcomes you had. Visualize success and confidence, and it will be so!

17. Improve your body language. The way that you move your body has a massive impact on your confidence level. Move your body assertively and walk with your head up, shoulders back and as though you’ve got somewhere very important to go. Feeling low in confidence? Change you body language.

18. Emotion is created by motion. As in tip 17, make sure you move around consistently. This creates energy and gets the blood pumping around your body – it makes you feel better and more confident.

19.
Learn to brag about yourself. Yes, you heard me! Talk about your achievements and successes more than you currently are.

20. And finally – You only live once, so any time that you are down just ask yourself in 10 or 20 years time – will what I am worrying about really matter?

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Article Source: 20 Tips for Increasing Your Self-Confidence

Look and Feel Happier Instantly!

by Kari Farmer

When you look happy you feel happy. It's hard to fake a happy demeanor when you are feeling down in the dumps but there are some things you can do to make yourself feel happier by utilizing your body language.

When we are depressed or upset there are certain things that we do with our body language that signifies that fact. We may not be aware we are even doing it! But the truth is, if you are portraying an upset person then you will feel like an upset person.

A good example is faking sick. I used to pretend to be sick to get out of work by slumping my shoulders, rubbing my stomach, rubbing my head and appearing to be miserable. It wasn't long that I got to go home from work, but it also wasn't long till I started getting a headache and actually feel sick! That's the power that your body language has. You are not only telling the world how you feel but you are telling yourself how you feel.

Knowing this simple little truth about body language you can make other people view you how you want and make yourself feel better instantly if you want to. You just have to assume the position!

First notice how you are sitting. If you are slumped over with your shoulders forward and your head hanging down then you will appear to be in some sort of negative mood. It could be sad, tired, or depressed. And chances are if you are sitting or standing slumped over you will feel that way as well. So fix your body position.

Straighten up and pull you shoulders back. Put your head up high to convey a message of feeling good and confident about yourself. You will soon notice yourself feeling happier just from this one body fix.

The next step in appearing and feeling happier is taking note of your facial expressions. Paying attention to your facial expressions is important because even if your body is speaking of confidence, certain facial expressions can make you seem egotistical or angry.

Is your mouth tight and scowling or is it relaxed and smiling? Are your eyes scrunched up and judgmental looking or are they relaxed and approving. Are you eyebrows raised in a disapproving look or are they relaxed? The thing to take note of here is the feeling of relaxed. Any tight, pulled back expression will send a message contrary to happiness.

Once those two facets of body language are presenting a feeling of happiness you will notice that other people will be more likely to approach you and be comfortable around you. And you will also feel better being around yourself! You will feel more at ease and less negative just by changing your body language.

Another way to be happier instantly is with positive affirmations. To learn more about positive affirmations visit Kari's website Manifest Connection, a personal development website for the mind, body, and spirit.

Article Source: Look and Feel Happier Instantly!